Dell confirms buyout offers

Tech giant Dell has confirmed that it has received alternative buyout offers from Blackstone Group LP and Carl Icahn. Our digital specialist James Titcomb:

Private equity group Blackstone and activist investor Carl Icahn have both written to Dell’s special committee before a Saturday deadline expired that would have prevented rival bids, sources said.

The committee was set up in order to establish whether shareholders could get a better offer than company founder Michael Dell’s $24.4bn (£16bn) bid to take the world’s third-biggest PC manufacturer private.